Alone Together
by afaithfulwriter890
Summary: Dove and Pire didn't have it easy, in fact, they had it worst than most. Yet, even in the toughest times, they always had each other. They were always alone together. A novella to "Broken Ice". Contains OC. No Clans.
1. Brother and Sister

_Alone Together: A Broken Ice Novella - Chapter 1_

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><p><strong>Hey guys! This is a novella to my fanfiction, Broken Ice. You can check it out on my profile if you wanna read it however, IT IS NOT NECESSARY TO HAVE READ BROKEN ICE BEFORE READING THIS. This is just the back stories of two of the characters - Dove and Pire. You can read this without having read Broken Ice, and you'll understand it just fine.<strong>

**Anyway, I hope you enjoy - it will only be six chapters long.**

**I don't own Warriors.**

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><p><strong>Part One<strong>

**Brother and Sister**

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><p>Two kits lay in the shadows of the fallen tree. The two pelts were curled together into a small ball—one half white, and one half a creamy brown color with white flecks. Suddenly a white head rose from the ball, and a pair of warm brown eyes blinked open. A body emerged next as the white bundle rose to its paws. The white she-kit stepped around her brother and toward the den entrance. Her tiny mouth stretched open in yawn. She sat at the den entrance, her brown eyes scanning the distance, and her ears swiveling around her head.<p>

She licked one of her paws nonchalantly, and fluffed out her pelt. It was mid-morning, but the sky was a dull, depressing gray. The wind was cold, and it sliced through her thick, fluffy pelt. She flattened her ears against her head as she thought. It would snow soon, and it would probably be best if she found food for her and her brother now, before the snow fell.

"Dove?" a tired voice called from back inside the den.

The white she-cat turned toward him, her brown eyes sad. "Yeah, Pire?"

The creamy brown tom sat up. He yawned and began to stretch, slowly. "Where's Dad?"

"Dunno. Probably out… doing something that's more important than watching us," Dove answered, coming back into the den to sit beside her brother. As she plopped down beside him, the smaller, skinnier cat shifted closer. Pire moved until his pelt brushed hers. Dove smiled as she felt the warmth from his body radiate onto hers. At least he was warm.

"Why does Dad leave all the time?" Pire asked quietly.

Dove sighed, and looked down. She knew why. She knew that their father had another mate, and another family out there that was more important than her and Pire. She knew that he cared for them more. She knew that he couldn't stand to be around them because they reminded him too much of their mother. She knew that he despised them because they had lived, and their mother had died. She knew that he hated that their mother had willingly sacrificed herself to save them. Long story short, in their father's eyes, they killed their mother.

"He's just… busy with things, Pire," Dove tried to convince him. Dove always wanted to protect Pire. Pire was her little brother—her only friend in this world. He was hers to love, hers to cherish, and hers to protect from the harsh reality of the world. No matter what happened, she would always be there to protect her little brother. Because that was what she had to do; it's what she'd always done.

Whenever their father left to go see his "other family", he'd always turn to her and say: "You know the rules, Dove. If a fox, or a badger comes, you take your brother and you run. If another cat comes, you run. If you have to, you fight—use your claws and teeth first and ask questions later. Look after Pire. You hear me, kit?"

Dove would always listen carefully, and nod to all of these. She had multiple escape routes planned in her mind if something ever did happen. All that mattered was protecting Pire. He was everything to her.

"Oh…" he sighed. "I wish he wasn't," he said.

"I know, Pire… Me too, sometimes."

Pire sighed. "Well… it's too cold to do anything."

Dove thought for a moment, and shrugged. She purred slightly. "I wouldn't say that…"

Her brother gave her a questioning look.

"You know, if you run around for a while… you don't get as cold. We could go outside and play," Dove offered.

Pire smiled widely. "Really?! But you _never_ want to play! You're always worried about being safe, and all that. Am I dreaming? I have to be dreaming!"

Dove let out a small _mrrow_ of laughter. "I'm not _that_ boring, am I?" she asked, unable to wonder if it were true. _Does he really think of me as being a stick in the mud? Doesn't he realize that everything I do, I do to protect him?_

He shrugged. "I know that you look after me because Dad can't… You act like a grownup, even though you're just as old as I am."

Dove looked away, avoiding his gaze. She narrowed her eyes. _Does he hold that against me? For acting like a grownup?_ "I just try to do my best to keep you safe, Pire."

"I know," he said quietly. "I just… I wish you could be my sister instead of my mother, my father, _and _my sister. You know?"

Dove sighed. "I know, Pi. I know."

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><p>AN: Review?


	2. Father

_Alone Together: A Broken Ice Novella - Chapter 2_

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><p><strong>I don't own Warriors.<strong>

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><p><strong>Two<strong>

**Father**

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><p><em>Snap!<em>

Dove jerked awake. Her head shot up, and her body began to tremble. She had planned how to get Pire out of the den in case of an emergency numerous times, but she had never thought she would ever have to use one. Her heart pounded as she quietly got to her paws. Blood roared in her ears as she stepped forward to peer outside of the den.

Before she got even halfway there, a shadow appeared in the entrance. She gasped and jumped back so she stood in front of Pire. She unsheathed her tiny claws and growled. She knew she couldn't fight off whatever it was, but she would try. At least it would give Pire time to escape.

Luckily for her, it was her father that stepped inside the den. He looked at her for a long time, his pale yellow eyes scrutinizing her. "Put your claws away," his deep voice commanded. Dove immediately obeyed, and sat down next to Pire, who slept on, oblivious to his father's presence.

"Did anything happen while I was gone?" her father asked, sitting in his own nest on the other side of the den.

Dove shook her head. "No, sir," she mumbled. "Nothing."

Her father nodded. "Good."

"Hmm?"

Dove looked down to see Pire shifting in his sleep. He blinked his eyes open slowly. "Dove?"

Her father let out a low, annoyed hiss. "Now look what you've done," he grumbled.

Pire raised his head and looked around the den with weary eyes. "Daddy?" he called.

"I'm here," their father replied, his voice void of emotion.

"Okay," Pire answered. "I'm glad."

Their father only grunted.

Dove looked down at her little brother, to see his look of disappointment. A sudden wave of irritation washed over her. All Pire wanted was for his father to love him. Was that a crime? She flattened her ears against her head, and glared at the wall of the den. Pire didn't deserve this life. _She _didn't deserve this life. She didn't deserve to have to go through all this at four moons old. She didn't deserve to be forced to grow up when she was still just a kitten. She didn't deserve the cold, heartless father she had.

"Why don't you two get some sleep?" her father suddenly suggested.

Pire didn't object and immediately laid down back in the nest. Dove stared at her father a while longer before doing the same. As she curled back up in the nest, she began to feel herself relax. With Pire's warm body pressed against hers, she felt a surge of peace.

"Daddy," Pire's voice suddenly piped up beside her. "I love you."

A deafening silence descended upon the den. Dove couldn't believe that her brother had even dared to say it. Pire wasn't always the smarter of the two, but surely he knew that love was something that they never mentioned in their father's presence? Surely he knew that their father was not an emotional cat?

After what seemed like an eternity, Dove heard her father respond. "I love you too, Pire."

Dove was stunned. She couldn't comprehend had just happened. Had her father really told Pire that he loved him? _That's not fair to Pire,_ she thought angrily. _Father doesn't love him—Father doesn't love anyone except for his _new _family. And he knows that Pire will believe him!_ Filled with indignation, all she wanted was to run over to her father and rake her claws across his nose. _You're hurting him, you _fox_-heart! _she wanted to scream. _You're playing with his emotions, and it's not fair! I won't let _you _or anyone else hurt Pire!_

She decided to test the theory for herself. Was their father just play with Pire? "I love you too, Daddy," she whispered into the darkness. She could feel her father's scorching gaze on her fur, but only snuggled deeper into Pire. His body's warmth, and his comforting scent offered a sort of haven from her father's harshness.

"You're too old to call me that, Dove," her father replied brusquely. "Now go to sleep."

Dove would deny the pain she felt in years to come. She would say that she never cared whether her father loved her or not. She would insist that he was a worthless son of a badger that didn't deserve to have kits. But, secretly, she wanted his love. She craved his love. Was it really so wrong for a child to look up at their father and want to see warmth, love, and affection in his eyes? Was it wrong for them to want to make their parents smile, and be proud? That was what Dove wanted. She wanted her father to look at her, smile, and say: "That's my daughter." That was all she wanted.

She swallowed the lump in her throat and blinked away tears. She snuggled closer into Pire, and she felt her brother doing the same, as if to try to comfort her. Dove took a shuddering breath before responding, "Yes, sir."

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><p>AN: Review?


	3. Together

_Alone Together: A Broken Ice Novella - Chapter 3_

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><p><strong>It only gets worse.<strong>

**I don't own Warriors.**

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><p><strong>Three<strong>

**Together**

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><p>"Pi? Pi?! PIRE!" Dove's voice seemed to echo throughout the forest. Her calls bounced off the trees, and returned to her ears unanswered. Her heart thumped wildly in her chest. Fear clawed at her gut as she sprinted through the forest, calling for her little brother. Snow dusted the ground, and icicles hung from the branches overhead. It was both a beautiful, and chilling scene.<p>

Dove pushed herself faster, loathing herself more and more with each bound. She knew she shouldn't have tried to hunt. She knew she should have stayed near Pire. But their stomachs had been snarling at them, angrily begging for food. Dove had tried her best the past few days, but it was hard enough for an adult cat to find prey during leaf-bare, let alone a four-moon-old kit.

_I should have kept him close to me,_ Dove thought remorsefully. _I never should have let him leave my sight._

A few days earlier, the morning after Pire had told his father that he loved him, Dove had sat him down in the den. Dove knew that Pire had always been the sensitive one—the one that needed taken care of, the one that needed protecting, the one that needed loved—but she didn't know what to do with him. Ever since their father had said that he loved Pire, Pire had waited up for him every night. He had tried to mimic his father in every way he could. And what was more, he began asking questions more about him—where he went during the day, why he didn't come home some nights, why he never brought them food.

So Dove decided it was finally time to tell him the sick reality of it all. And she did. She told Pire about how, when they were very young kits—too young to remember—their father had gone out to hunt, leaving their mother and the two kits alone in the den. While he had been out, a fox had come by, supposedly smelling the milk-scent on their mother. Seeing an easy meal, the fox attacked. Their mother protected her kits with everything she had, and ultimately held off the fox until their father returned. By the time their father had made it back, and the fox had been chased off, their mother was covered in deep lacerations, and was bleeding almost everywhere. Their mother died shortly after, and their father blamed the kits for this.

"If you two had never been born, she might still be alive! She would have saved herself, instead of trying to save you!" Her father had spoken those exact words to her when she had asked about it. Dove never knew why her father hated her more than he hated Pire. He always took out his anger, and his frustrations on Dove, and was oddly, if perhaps stiffly, civil to his son. Was it because he thought that she could handle it? Did he think that she was stronger than her brother, so he could say these things to her? Was it just some kind of sick, twisted complement?

After Dove had told her brother the truth, he had simply curled up in his nest, and began to cry. Never before in her life had she felt more like a worthless piece of mouse-dung. She had decided to leave him alone to come to grips with reality, and left to hunt. When she returned, Pire was gone, and she could only imagine that he had gone to look for their father.

_He'll kill me,_ Dove thought, terror clawing at her insides. _Dad will kill me if he finds out that I lost Pire!_ Most would think that this was a dramatic statement, but it wasn't. It was actually a possibility that her father would snap, and attack her. _He already hates me, and Pire has always been his favorite!_

"Pire?!" she yowled again. She shouted so loud, that she ended up coughing. As she hacked, she staggered to the side, nearly tumbling off her paws. She stood there for a few moments, gasping for breath. Her throat burned from running for so long, and trying to shout so loud. Her body was shivering, partially from cold, and partially from pure fear. No matter what she did, she could not keep herself from shaking, nor could she get rid of the sudden dizzy spell that was coming on. The wooziness was accompanied with nausea, which almost sent her retching into the snow.

"Dove?" a familiar voice called. "Dove are you alright?"

The white she-cat looked up to see Pire racing toward her. She let out a sigh of relief – he was safe. But her liberation was immediately replaced with a fiery anger. She squared her shoulders and faced him boldly with ears flattened against her head, and teeth bared. "_What in spirit's name were you thinking?!"_ she caterwauled in his face. "_Have you completely lost your mind?!_"

Pire flinched away from her, his body seeming to shrink. Seeing him cowering in front of her, Dove felt a twinge of remorse and sympathy. She did her best to shove it away; _This is what he gets for running off like that!_

"I'm… I'm s- sorry, Dove," he whispered submissively. "I- I just… I just wanted to… to find something f- for us to eat."

Dove relaxed slightly. "You… you weren't looking for dad?" she asked. Her confusion was apparent in her voice.

Her little brother looked just as confused as she felt. "Why would I do that?" he asked, returning to his normal height. He didn't seem too scared of her anymore, which was both a blessing and a curse. "You said it yourself: he doesn't care about us, so why should we care about him?"

Dove felt as if a massive weight had been removed from her shoulders. Pire had just been trying to help her – find food – and not go looking for their father. She looked at him, scanning his body for injuries. After deeming that he was unscathed, she gritted her teeth. "I was worried sick about you!" she growled, lashing her tail for emphasis.

His ears flattened against his head guiltily. "I'm really sorry Dove… You're always busy looking out for me, I figured I could look after you for a change," he murmured. "You shouldn't have to do all the hard work since dad is too lazy."

She couldn't stay mad at him – how could she when met with that explanation? From the moment they were born, they had always been together; Pire had been her best friend, her rock in the middle of a storm, her number one fan. He had her back through thick and thin, and he would always be there for her when she needed him. If something ever happened to Pire. . . Dove didn't know if she could bear to live with herself.

"Okay, but next time, _tell me_ before you go running off!" she said, using her stern, motherly voice she'd evolved after their mother's death. "I thought I lost you, Pi."

Pire gave her a small smile. "I'm not gone sis – I'm right here."

She smiled slightly and nuzzled her head into his soft kitten fur. "I know, Pi. I know."

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><p>AN: Review?


	4. Punishment

_Alone Together: A Broken Ice Novella - Chapter 4_

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><p><strong>Yeah... Sorry.<strong>

**I don't own Warriors.**

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><p><strong>Four<strong>

**Punishment**

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><p>When the two siblings returned to the den, they were surprised with what they found. There, pacing in front of the den, was their father. His tail was lashing and he was muttering things under his breath. When he saw them approaching, a snarl of rage ripped from his chest.<p>

Dove stopped in her tracks. She could see the fury on his face, and she knew that she was in for it. Pire came to a halt beside her. She could feel his eyes on her face, and she could smell his fear-scent. Her breathing quickened, and her heart sped up. _Oh no, oh no, oh no,_ she repeated it like a mantra, over and over again in her head.

"DOVE!" her father roared racing toward them.

For a moment, time slowed down for little Dove. All she could focus on what the image of her father racing toward her, claws unsheathed and lips curled back in a furious snarl. Like a deer in headlights, she stood here, mouth slightly ajar, blood roaring in her ears, and adrenaline raging through her veins like wildfire.

Then, he was right in front of her. His paw cuffed the side of her face, his claws clipping her skin, drawing blood. Hot, crimson liquid ran down the side of her face. The impact of the swat sent her to the ground. Her ears rang; she could hear Pire screaming her name, but his voice was muffled. Then her father's booming voice blasted in her ears.

"WHERE IN SPIRITS' NAME WERE YOU?!"

Pire's voice followed. "Dad, it's not her fault! I swear! It's mine – I ran off and Dove was trying to—"

"YOU LET PIRE OUT OF YOUR SIGHT?!" her father continued to roar. It felt as if his voice were going to make her eardrums explode.

Dove couldn't even bring herself to speak. She just cowered there on the ground, her pelt bristling, and her body trembling. For some reason, her body had just shut down. She couldn't move. She couldn't speak. She couldn't even think. All she could focus on was the immense, overwhelming fear that was plaguing her at that very moment.

"Dad, just stop!" Pire shouted again. "Please, it's not her fault, I swear!"

"No!" he snarled. There was a grunt, as he shoved Pire away from them. Dove felt a twinge of anger and hatred as she heard Pire hit the ground. _How dare you hurt my little brother?!_ It was the first coherent thought she had had since she looked at her father.

"You know the rules, Dove!" her father snarled into her ear. His voice was darker than she'd ever heard it. It sounded almost demonic. "And you know what happens when you break them!"

"Dad, please!" Pire's voice came from nearby again. His voice sounded half-strangled with tears. "Please just let her go! Punish me if you're gonna punish someone!"

"She was supposed to look after you!" their father shouted in response. "And she disobeyed me!"

Dove whimpered as she felt her father's paw press into her back, shoving her into the dirt. She let out a low cough; it felt as if he was crushing her, compressing her lungs and forcing all of the air out of them. Her throat felt tight, and she let out another strangled cough. The snow on the ground was beginning to melt into her fur, chilling her to the bone. Her heart beat faster as she saw her father's claw pass closely by her face.

"DAD!" Pire was sobbing now. He was begging for their father to stop.

_I'm sorry, Pire,_ Dove thought sadly. _I am so sorry you have to see this._

Suddenly, claws dug into her chin. Dove cried out as pain ripped through her. She could almost hear the ripping of flesh as the claws raked upward. She wailed in agony as the claws sliced through the tissue of her nose. Blood swelled from the wounds, flooding her nasal cavity and making her cough and gurgle. More of the crimson liquid had seeped into her mouth. The salty, metallic taste almost made her retch as she struggled against her father's grip, but he held her still, his massive paw digging into her spine.

Pire was screaming, and so was Dove. The claws diverged from their path then, and began to shift rightward, across her cheek. Dove unsheathed her tiny claws and tried to dig them into the icy soil, but broke one of her claws in the process, only adding to the agony. The claws reached her eye then. Dove and clamped both of her eyes shut in the beginning of the episode, but that didn't stop the claws from venturing there.

They retracted from the flesh of her face and raked lightly across her eyelid, as if trying to spare her eye from the devastation. Then they reached her brow, they sunk in deeper again, making her cry out. Blood was running down her face in massive quantities. Some seeped into her eyes, adding a reddish tint to her vision, and irritating her eyeball. She no longer had the energy to scream, so she simply laid there, under her father's weight, panting and praying that it would soon be over. The claws had reached the base of her ear, and were suddenly gone. The weight on her back was removed and Dove was left with the crippling pain of the massive wound she'd just obtained.

"DOVE!" Pire shouted. She heard and felt his paws as he rushed toward her. The next thing she knew, she was showered with nervous and relieved licks. "Oh spirits. . . Oh spirits! I. . . I don't know what to do. . ." he choked out. "Dove, I. . . I don't know what to do!"

Dove tried to open her eyes, but they refused to open. All of the energy had been drained from her body. She couldn't move. She couldn't open her eyes. She couldn't speak. She could hardly even think. All she could do was lie there, and welcome the darkness that was waiting to consume her.

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><p>AN: Review?


	5. Ruin

_Alone Together: A Broken Ice Novella - Chapter 5_

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><p><strong>I don't own Warriors.<strong>

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><p><strong>Five<strong>

**Ruin**

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><p>Dove awoke back in the den, her head pounding. Pain pulsed through her entire body in rhythm with the beat of her heart. She winced and dug her claws into the moss the composed her nest. This new agony she felt was nowhere near as crippling as that she felt when the injury was inflicted, but it was still a sharpness to it that was enough to bring tears to her eyes. It felt like the right side of her face was one fire.<p>

"Dove!" Pire's voice came from her side.

She forced herself to open her eyes, although that was no easy feat. Her head felt heavy, and her one eye refused to open no matter how hard she tried. With impaired, blurry vision, she saw Pire squatting beside her. "Thank spirits you're okay," he mewled in relief.

Dove let out a shaky gasp as something cool and wet was pressed against the burning side of her face. The pain of contact stung, but it was quickly soothed by the coolness. "Thank . . . you . . ." she breathed. Her mouth tasted stale, and had a distinctive metallic flavor to it.

"Shh, it's okay Dove," Pire soothed. His tail ran along her spine soothingly. "Just try to get some rest. Let me take care of you for once."

Dove smiled slightly. Pire was so strong – he was always there, always looking after her. _Oh, Pire . . . I'm so proud of you. Mother would be too._

"Just relax," Pire murmured again, giving her ear an affectionate lick.

Dove closed her eye, and obliged.

The healing process was slow, and excruciatingly painful. In the beginning, Dove was in and out of consciousness day and night. When she came back into the world of the living, she was greeted with a burning pain like no other she had ever felt. Her father had attacked her before, but never like this. The wound was deep, and the pain that accompanied it was un-describable.

Every day, Pire would be at her side, washing out her wound with cool water from a nearby stream. He would trek through the forest daily to find fresh moss, and then take it to the stream to collect water. Neither of the kits had any knowledge of herbs, so there was the constant, looming threat of infection. For the most part, the two kits were on their own.

Whenever Dove woke – during both day and night – their father was nowhere to be seen. During one of her conscious moments, she wondered briefly if he had finally abandoned them. However, as time went on, Pire never seemed to get any skinner, so he had to be eating, and Dove couldn't recall feeling the pang of hunger in her belly, so someone had to, not only be hunting, but feeding her as well. She wasn't sure if Pire was capable of doing those things – at least the hunting part – so she assumed that their father just stopped by to drop off prey, and then he would be absent the rest of the time.

However, even though the odds seemed to be against them, Dove's wounds began to heal, and seemed to be free of infection. As time went by and they began to close, Dove began to resume her normal activities. Pire refused to let her hunt in fear of having the prey fight back and reopen her wounds, but she could do other things. Mostly, it was just simple things she could do for herself. While she was weak and crippled by pain, she was practically helpless. Pire had to do everything – feed her, bring her water, help her make dirt, and so on. Now, Dove could perform those tasks all by herself, which was her own personal feat.

After Dove got better and was up and moving around, their father stopped coming to see them all together. Dove wondered if it was because he felt guilty for what he did. Even though she knew better, it was a comforting thought – that he couldn't face her because he had hurt her so badly. In a way, she wanted him to live with that guilt for the rest of his life – she wanted him to remember it for as long as he lived.

She just had no idea that his life would be so short.

It was about a moon after Dove's face had completely healed. The wounds were all sealed leaving a large, ugly scar in their place. Their father had been gone for moons on end now, and it was clear that the two siblings were completely and utterly alone in the world. They weren't kits anymore either – in the Clans, they would have been older apprentices that were close to receiving their warrior names. Apart from the scar, Dove was fairly attractive. Her pelt had grown out, and she had lost her kitten fluff. It was long, and silky, and her eyes – even the damaged one – were a vibrant green that Pire always said could get anyone to do anything. Pire had grown as well. He had bulked up, and was now a strong, strapping young tom. His pelt was sleek, and shone in the sunlight. His muscles, while not over-exaggerated were still clearly present, and rippled under his pelt when he moved.

However, the two still lived by themselves. They hadn't even run into anyone since their father's departure, and they enjoyed the solitude. They didn't need anyone else – they had each other, and that was enough for both of them.

Unfortunately, their mostly happy lives were about to be ruined.

"Help! Someone, help! Please!"

Dove leapt to her paws, and Pire was quick to follow. They were lying outside their den, basking in the last few rays the leaf-fall sun had to offer before it dipped below the western horizon. They had been enjoying their downtime – they rarely spoke anymore, but the other's presence was comforting. They didn't need to speak most of them; they just knew what the other was trying to tell them based on their facial expressions.

Pire's eyes flickered to left, and that's were Dove went, claws unsheathed. She circled around while Pire headed directly toward the voice. They had planned for something like this many times – Pire was going to confront the cat, whoever it was, and Dove was going to be waiting and watching in the shadows. If the cat tried to attack, or brought friends along, Dove would be ready to respond appropriately.

The cat was upon them before Dove had even gotten into position. "Help, please!" It was a she-cat – a light brown tabby with one white dash on her chest, and another on her forehead. She looked to be a few moons younger than Dove and Pire. The she-cat spotted Pire, seeming to overlook Dove. "Please, I need your help! A fox is attacking our den!"

Pire looked to Dove for help, and she emerged from her weak hiding spot among a clump of ferns. She wasn't sure why they should risk their pelts for her, but how could they say now? She was on the verge of having a panic attack. "Alright, alright," Dove finally conceded. "We'll help; just take us to your den."

"Thank you!" the she-cat breathed, relief flooding her face. "Thank you!"

"Hurry up, we might not have much time," Pire told her in a grave voice.

The color drained from the she-cat's face at his words. She whipped around and took off back in the direction she'd come. Dove and Pire raced after her, the siblings running side-by-side, easily keeping pace with one another. They used to race like this when they were younger. Pire always won – he had always been smaller, but faster. Now, they both could easily keep pace with one another.

The den wasn't far off, but just far enough away where the siblings wouldn't scent the cats, or hear the sounds of a fight. However, as they neared, Dove could hear the high-pitched yips of a fox, and the snarls and hisses of cats fighting it. When they reached a den, Dove skidded to a halt, and stood there, chest heaving, back arched, and fur bristling.

There, squaring off with the fox, was her father.

Pire had stopped beside her as well. A low growl ripped from his chest, and Dove knew that he wasn't growling at the fox. He looked to the tabby she-cat and glared at her. "Sorry, but we can't help you."

The she-cat's eyes widened. "Please, you have to!"

"Leaf!"

Dove looked up to see an older she-cat rushing toward the tabby. The older she-cat's pelt was as black as midnight. Her eyes were a pale yellow color, and, even though her pelt was tinged with gray hairs, she was still rather beautiful. _This is her, _Dove thought with an odd sense of indifference. _This is the she-cat that ruined my father._

"Mother, don't!" Leaf cried out, but it was too late. The fox was already turning toward the black she-cat, fangs bared.

"NO!" Dove heard her father roar. "You won't take Ebony too!" She watched as her father launched himself toward the fox. He landed on shoulders, his claws digging into his back, making it hiss in pain. Dove noted that her father was badly injured, and bleeding heavily. His body was covered in cuts from the fox's claws, as well as bite wounds. The ground beneath their paws was bloodstained.

"Should we help?" Pire inquired.

Dove didn't answer right away. Instead, she watched her father struggle to keep his grip on the fox. She watched the black she-cat – Ebony – stand there, and stare at the red creature, frozen in horror like a fool. _I should just stand here and let this happen,_ she thought darkly. _He deserves this. He deserves this after what he did to me – to us._ But she knew she couldn't do that – it would be stooping to his level. And she was not going to be anything like her father for as long as she lived.

"Get tha out of the way," Dove grumbled flicking her tail at Ebony. "I'll help . . . Dad."

Pire didn't move for a moment, his eyes studying closer. She knew what he was wondering: "Are you okay?" She nodded in response to the unspoken question and bounded toward the fox. She didn't look to see if Pire had gone to help Ebony – she knew he would.

Dove slammed into the side of the fox opposite of her father. She sank her teeth into its shoulder until they scraped bone. The fox howled in pain and thrashed under her paws. She ripped out her teeth, taking a chunk of flesh with her. Blood gushed from the wound, drenching her chest and forepaws with the crimson liquid. She backed off then, letting the fox thrash and snarl at them. She saw her father take a few steps back on his own side. His legs were trembling, and he was panting, but he didn't seem to be willing to back down. His eyes were as hard as ever, and his lips were still curled in a snarl that still made her tremble on the inside.

The fox looked from Dove to her father, and let out a low growl. Dove growled back in response. She crouched low, lips curled back in a snarl, and ears flattened against her head. Her fur was fluffed out in every direction, and she looked more feral than ever before. She could feel her father's eyes on her, and she briefly wondered what he must think.

Dove remained crouched like that for probably a solid minute before the fox began to slowly retreat. It looked back and forth between Dove, her father, and Pire who was standing protectively in front of Ebony and Leaf. The fox gave one last snarl before spinning around and limping off back into the forest.

When it was gone, Dove stood, and allowed her fur to lie flat. She looked over at her father just in time to see him slump to the ground. "Dad!" Leaf yowled, rushing to his side.

Ebony was quick to follow. "Great spirits! Grove, are you alright? Grove?"

Dove hung back, staring at her father's new family circled him with solicitous eyes. She felt Pire come up beside her. Neither of them spoke.

"My children . . ." she heard her father cough. "Where are they?"

"Your daughter is right here," Ebony whispered, giving her mate a loving lick.

"No," Grove breathed. "My kits . . . Dove . . . Pire . . ."

"Dad?" Leaf asked. Dove could hear the confusion in her voice, and felt a twinge of sympathy for her. So he never told his new family about his old one. _Interesting._

Her father locked eyes with her, and, for the first time in her life, Dove saw him smile. "My kits . . ." he coughed. "Come here . . . please."

Neither of them moved.

"You have a lot of nerve, you know that?" Pire growled. "You think that we're just going to forgive you what you put us through?!"

Dove rested a tail on her brother's shoulder. "What do you want from us?"

"To see you," her father answered. His voice was already growing weaker. Dove knew he didn't have long. "I wanted . . . to see my kits one last time . . . Is that a crime?"

She narrowed her eyes and stalked toward him. Ebony and Leaf scrambled away from her as she approached, as if she was some kind of contagious disease. "Look at me," Dove told him, her voice eerily calm. "I want you to look at me. Look at my face."

Her father did just that. He stared at her scar for a very long time before looking down. "I don't know what you want me to say," he said simply.

Her pelt bristled. "_How about an apology for mutilating me?!_" she screamed in his face. "How about an apology for treating me like I was worse less than dirt?! Or maybe one for _leaving us to fend for ourselves when we were kits?!_"

He didn't answer her, but just watched her. "Do you want to know why I treated you the way you did?"  
>"YES!"<p>

"I was angry, Dove," he said softly.

"Angry does not justify disfiguring your daughter!" she snarled.

"I know . . . That was wrong of me, but . . . After your mother died . . . Dove . . . losing her nearly killed me. I wanted to . . . to get revenge. I wanted to make the fox that killed her suffer, but I couldn't. I tried to track it down . . . I tried so hard, but . . . but I couldn't find it. I had all this rage inside me, and it just . . . it kept building and building. It ate away at me . . . It simmered just below the surface, waiting to explode . . . And it did. And I hurt you . . . so bad. That's why I didn't come back. I knew what I did, and I couldn't . . . I couldn't face you."

"Well now you are," Dove growled. "And I hope you're happy with what you see. All my life, you've tried to crush me . . . I don't know if that was your sick little revenge, or what, but you tried. Well guess what, _Dad,_ I never crumbled! I never gave up. I kept fighting, and I'm still alive!"

"I know . . . And I am so relieved for that."

"Why did you always hate me? You liked Pire – you never hurt him. You treated him . . . differently. You were kinder to him. Why?" she queried through clenched teeth.

"Because you . . . You look like her."

"What?"

"Your mother," he clarified. "You look . . . just like her. It . . . I couldn't look at you and _not_ see her. And it hurt. It brought me . . . physical pain to look at you. I couldn't do it. I couldn't love you the way I loved Pire because . . . because it hurt too much . . . It . . . it wasn't right."

Dove just stared at him. She could not believe this. That was his excuse? That she reminded him of . . . ?

She shook her head. "You know what?" she growled. "You aren't even worth hating." With that, she turned away from him and padded back in the direction of the den she shared with Pire. "C'mon, Pi . . . unless there's something you wanna say to that useless son of a badger."

Pire gave their father one final glare before shaking his head. "No. Let's go."

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><p>AN: Review?


	6. The Leap

_Alone Together: A Broken Ice Novella - Chapter 6_

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><p><strong>Here it is, guys. Last chapter.<strong>

**Remember, if you liked this story, be sure to check out "Broken Ice", the story this one is based off of.  
><strong>

**I don't own Warriors.**

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><p><strong>Six<strong>

**The Leap**

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><p>About a season-cycle had gone by since their father's death. Since then, Pire had kept in touch with Leaf. Ebony had shunned both Dove and Pire after she found out that they were her mate's <em>other<em> kits. Leaf, on the other paw, seemed thrilled to finally have siblings. Dove wasn't as enthusiastic about the aspect of having a little sister, but Pire was embracing the idea. Since he had always been the "younger one" he liked that he no longer held that status.

However, it wasn't too long after their father's death that Ebony decided she wanted to move on. Leaf had said that her mother didn't like living in their den since it was where their father died. She had asked her mother if she could stay with Dove and Pire, but Ebony said that she would prefer it if Leaf accompanied her. Dove had a strong suspicion that the conversation did not go down in such a calm and controlled manner, but she kept it to herself.

After Leaf and Ebony had left, it was just Dove and Pire. Dove was glad that they were alone together once more, but Pire seemed to be dissatisfied now. It was as if his contact with Leaf – with someone _other_ than Dove – had spoiled him.

"Maybe we should go too," he had murmured one day, making Dove's head snap up. They had been talking about small, trivial things that she had hardly been paying attention to, but now, Pire had her full attention.

"What do you mean 'go'?" she nearly growled. "We're doing just fine right here, Pi." She was struggling to keep her voice level. Didn't he realize that he was about to ruin everything?

Pire sighed. "You know, this is why I almost never speak my mind. Every time I do, you shoot me down like I'm some kind of ιdιoт. Well, I'm not stupid, Dove. And I think you should hear me out!" he nearly snarled at her.

Dove just stared at him, her large brown eyes wide with shock. Pire had never spoken to her with such venom in his voice before. "I never called you stupid, Pire," she said, trying to keep her composure. "And I don't think that you are, either. You're one of the smartest cats I know."

He glared at her. "Then why do you treat me like I have no idea what I'm talking about?"

"Because you're asking me to leave the only home we've ever known because you have itchy feet," she muttered. "I don't understand what's wrong with staying here."

"Doesn't it bother you that we live in the same den where Dad kept us? Doesn't it bother you that just a few tail-lengths away, he practically ripped half your face off? It bothers me, and the more I think about it, the more upset I become. This place is haunting Dove. There are too many bad memories here, and it is full of negative energy."

She rolled her eyes. "Please, Pire. I am the one that took the beatings from Dad, and I'm perfectly fine here." That was partially true; every now and then, she would pass the spot where she received her scar and would have a horrible flashback, or would just simply stare at it for a long time. She knew that Pire had noticed these moments were she was temporarily out of it, but he never really commented on them.

He huffed, clearly showing that he knew that wasn't true. "Dove . . . I _want_ to go."

"I know, and I say we're not going anywhere," she returned sharply.

Pire sighed and shook his head. He refused to look at her, keeping his brown gaze focused on the ground. "No . . . I want to go, even if that means going without you."

Dove stood there, frozen to the spot. Her heart began to pound. _N- no . . . He . . . He can't mean that . . . No! Pire would never . . . No, no, no, no, no, no, no . . ._ "Pire . . ." she whispered. She felt her body begin to shake, and her eyes became too moist. She blinked, sending a single tear running down the side of her cheek. Pire was all she had left. Pire was the only cat in this world that she loved, and he was going to _leave_ her! "Pire you . . . you can't. I mean . . . even if you did leave . . . how would you . . . I mean . . . how would I even know that you'd be safe?!"

He shook his head, still not looking at her. "Dove . . . you don't understand. I'm not a kit anymore. I don't need you to look after me; I can take care of myself."

"N- no," Dove said, trying to make herself sound authoritative. This couldn't happen. She couldn't _let_ it happen! "I won't let you go."

Pire finally met her gaze, his dark brown eyes cold and unforgiving. "Try to stop me," he goaded darkly. His expression then softened slightly. "Dove . . . are you really that lonely that you would make me sacrifice my own happiness so you will never have to leave this place? Don't you want to go? Don't you want to_ see _the world? I mean, this wood isn't the only place out there! There is more – more than we can ever imagine! Don't you want to see at least . . . part of it?"

Dove was silent for a long time. Truthfully, she was a little afraid to leave the wood. That was the only place she'd ever known . . . even if bad memories haunted it, it was still _home_. "Pire . . . I don't want you to go," she whispered. She had no idea what else to say. What could she _possibly_ say that would convince him to stay?

His eyes softened, as if he understood what she was trying to sell him. "Then come with me, Dove."

She took a deep breath and met Pire's eyes. He was all she had left – all that mattered. That had been her mantra for as long as she could remember. _"Pire is all that matters. Pire is all that matters."_ She had repeated that to herself over and over, and the statement still stood. She didn't want to take a leap into the unknown. She didn't want to leave the only home she had ever known.

But she would.

She would do it for Pire.

Dove closed her eyes and took in a shuddering breath.

This was it.

She opened them, and looked at her brother. She felt a small burst of confidence. Wherever they ended up, at least they would be together.

She held her breath.

And took her leap.

"Okay."

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><p>AN: Thanks for all the support! I hope you enjoyed! Please remember to review and tell me what you thought!


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